Designing your own holiday

This
year, you can recapture with your own two hands what the holidays are really
about. All it takes is a little effort, a little inspiration, and, yes, just a
little daring. People will say you're doing that simple-living thing, getting
back to basics. And you will make it look good, too. Here is a sample of
do-it-yourself ideas to inspire that old-fashioned holiday revelry.

You could buy a Christmas
tree, but where is the satisfaction in that? Real celebrators cut their own.
Here are some tree farms close to the city. (Saws are provided.)

• Remelt's Evergreen Acres, 6303
East River Road, West Henrietta, 334-2072. Open Saturdays and Sundays after
Thanksgiving.

• Freckleton's, 1651
Harris Road, Penfield, 872-1758. Weekdays you can cut trees yourself on the
honor system. There will be a saw hanging by the farm sign for you to borrow.
Staff will be on hand weekends and evenings. There are also 20 horses at the
farm.

Keep your trees fresh for three to
four weeks with nothing but water, says Bill Urtz of Urtz's Evergreens in
Palmyra. If you cut your own tree, bring it home and put it in water
immediately. If you buy a pre-cut tree, cut off the bottom inch of the trunk to
expose new wood. "If it gets dry, the bottom of the trunk glazes over and the
pores seal up," says Urtz. Make sure your tree stand reservoir is large enough
to keep the cut surface of the trunk submerged in water at all times. A
one-quart reservoir is a good size.

After the holidays, Rochester
residents can leave their trees at the curb for trash pick-up, or they can
recycle them at one of several drop-off sites open in January. Call the city at
428-5990 for sites.

Instead of
spending hundreds to deck the halls, simplify with some time-honored
decorating traditions and a little creativity.

First, bring in the aromas of winter
merrymaking. Susan Smith of Orchard View Country Market in North Rose has a
recipe for mulled apple cider that "makes the whole house smell wonderful," she
says. Put one gallon of apple cider in a pan along with 1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar,
three ounces frozen orange juice concentrate, two teaspoons cinnamon, three
teaspoons allspice, and 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg. Simmer (very gently) for a couple
of minutes. The mulled cider will keep in the refrigerator to be reheated
later.

Now, get decorating. For popcorn and
cranberry garlands, use plain, slightly stale popcorn (it won't break as
easily), fresh cranberries, a sturdy needle, and a long piece of thread or
fishing line. The garlands can be left outside after the holidays for the
birds.

Remember clove oranges? They are
probably the easiest holiday nostalgia item. Just push a bunch of whole cloves
into an unpeeled orange. Or, Jan Mater-Cavagnaro and
Christy Johnson of craftygal.com, a Rochester-based zine for creative living,
have a spruce-up for the citrus favorite: "use a citrus zester to create
geometric designs in oranges, lemons, or limes. Poke dried cloves into the fruit
in a variety of patterns," they suggest.

Mater-Cavagnaro
and Johnson have some other simple decorating ideas: Replace the curtains in
one window with decorations. "Tie ribbons in seasonal colors across the rod,"
they say. "String on bells, garlands, or other sparkly things."

Put the extra branches you cut from
the bottom of your Christmas tree to good use: "Wire together the boughs on one
end, tie a bow around it, and hang it up."

As
self-sufficient as you are, you still may need to buy a few things this
season. Try these stores for your winter holiday shopping.

Tradition Fine Judaic and Israeli
Gifts on South Winton Road at Twelve Corners (244-3540) is full of children's
books, Hanukkah decorations, and dreidels that range from 20-cent treats to
works of art that will cost you much more. "And, of course, many, many, many
menorahs," says Lenore Weinrieb, a worker at Tradition.

You can find Kwanzaa sets at Mood
Makers Books at Village Gate Square, 274 North Goodman Street (271-7010). And
you can find a selection of handcrafted, American-made kinara, menorahs, and
nativities, made with a variety of materials from stained glass to ceramics, at
The Creator's Hands, 336 Arnett Boulevard (235-8550).

For the celebration of Eid Al-Adha,
a Muslim holiday that often involves sacrificing a lamb and distributing the
meat to family and the poor, go to Halal Meat at 315 East Ridge Road in
Rochester (342-4776). Halal meat, or meat that is permitted to Muslims, is
available year-round at the store. Butchering orders should be made in advance.

Public
and private schools in Rochester will close twice this winter, as they do every
year, for the last week in December and the third week in February. The kids
will be home, with you, for some fun, meaningful family time.